| Do You Want to Live Beyond Age 75?
by Steve Vernon, FSA
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Ezekiel Emanuel, a prominent medical ethicist, hopes to die at age 75, and he recently made a well-publicized case for "dying promptly." I strongly disagree with his point of view and wrote a rebuttal post at CBS MoneyWatch.
Please keep reading for this issue's helpful articles and stories.
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How much should you save for retirement?
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Struggling to figure out how much you need to put away for retirement? There's no single right answer -- it depends on how old you are and when you hope to retire. Read this post to learn where to start. My second post on this topic focuses on the savings challenges of Gen X.
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A simple online tool for figuring retirement income
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One of the biggest challenges facing baby boomers is deciding how to deploy your savings in retirement. You want to make sure your money lasts for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live and no matter what happens in the economy. But that's not so easy, given all the things you need to take into account.
Read here to learn about an online tool that was developed by an expert actuary to help you with this task. In the process, you'll need to make a handful of critical assumptions, and my second post offers additional insights and takes the online tool for a test drive.
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Here's the latest failing grade for actively managed funds
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S&P's midyear 2014 scorecard is just the latest evidence of how poorly actively managed funds do against their benchmarks. For details, read this excellent post from fellow CBS MoneyWatch blogger Larry Swedroe. |
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How best to generate lifetime retirement income?
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One of the most important retirement planning decisions you'll need to make is how you'll use your 401(k), IRA or other retirement savings to generate a lifetime retirement paycheck. This task is particularly critical if you haven't earned a significant lifetime pension from your employer, a situation many people are in these days.
This post describes one way you can decide which approach to take. And speaking of retirement income, my second post also contains some information on the strategies that retirees are successfully using to generate retirement income.
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Are retirees happy living on less?
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It's generally understood that most retirees live on a lower income than what they earned during their working years. But the key questions are how much lower and are retirees generally satisfied with that income? A recent survey gives insights into these questions.
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Are you healthy enough to delay retirement?
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"Work longer" is becoming the new retirement strategy, as more and more people report in surveys that they intend to continue working to age 70 or beyond. Working longer has a few powerful financial advantages: It gives you more time for your retirement savings to grow, you'll earn a higher Social Security benefit if you delay claiming it, and you may be covered by health insurance at work.
But this strategy raises the question: Will you be healthy enough to work? A recent paper provides some insights into this question.
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Should you take a pension buyout?
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Accepting the offer of a lump-sum pension payment isn't always the best choice; the right move depends on your situation. Read here for considerations and a checklist on this important decision.
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How much longer might you live? Think again
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Estimating how long you might live is a critical step in retirement planning, but most people will fall prey to two common mistakes. Read here for helpful insights into your retirement planning.
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Should you worry about Social Security being cut?
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The latest official projection estimates that Social Security's Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2033, when it's forecast that about 77 percent of promised benefits can still be paid. Does this mean you should start your Social Security benefits as soon as possible so you receive benefits before they're cut? Read here for my take on this question.
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Is your "healthstyle" helping you or hurting you?
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A healthy and happy retirement depends on your habits and approach to life -- don't be your own worst enemy. Read here for some ideas on how to use behavioral science to improve your retirement.
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What's the most important ingredient for a happy retirement?
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One aspect of life outranks everything else when it comes to enjoying our later years. This post reviews a recent study that reveals the answer.
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Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned for future newsletters that explore how to best live the rest of your life. Best regards,
Steve Vernon
Rest-of-Life Communications
P.S. If you think this newsletter will help a friend, please pass it along.
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Money for Life
Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck
My latest book answers two of the most important financial questions you'll ever face:
How much money do you need to retire?
How can you generate reliable income from your retirement savings that lasts for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live and no matter what happens in the economy?
Addressing these questions is one of the most critical challenges facing the retirement industry today.
Money for Life is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand book that outlines specific action steps and includes illustrations and graphs to reinforce the main points. It describes in simple terms the three methods you can use to generate a "retirement paycheck" from your retirement savings. It explains the pros and cons of these methods, as well as their many varieties and permutations. One critical element is the amount of the retirement paycheck you'll be able to generate, which can vary widely depending on the method you choose to generate retirement income.
This new book is available in both print and e-book format. It complements my other published works on retirement planning -- my book, Recession-Proof Your Retirement Years; my DVD, The Quest for Long Life, Health and Prosperity; and my retirement planning website, Money for Life.
Please see my website for details on all of my books and DVDs.
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Welcome to
Our Newsletter!
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We fulfill a need for trusted, practical strategies that you can use to plan your rest-of-life (aka
retirement). We rely on the latest research and analyses, and we'll
keep it simple! And that's all we provide; we don't sell insurance, investments or health products, so we can "tell it like it is."
Here's an archive of past issues.
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Steve Vernon has spent 35 years as a consulting actuary, helping large employers design and manage their retirement programs. Now he's president of Rest-of-Life Communications, where he specializes in providing unbiased, trusted information about retirement. He also is a Research Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity, and writes a regular column for CBS MoneyWatch titled Money for Life.
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For information on keynote addresses, workshops or presentations on retirement issues, visit Steve's website at www.restoflife.com, or email him at steve.vernon@restoflife.com
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Want to Learn More?
If you want to learn more about a topic, or if you have any ideas or thoughts on the topics in this newsletter, please send Steve an email at:
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| © 2014 Steve Vernon/
Rest-of-Life Communications
All rights reserved.
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